Page 34 of Ever After Between the Lines (Montgomery Ink Legacy)

This had been a merciless week. And all I wanted to do was go home, get in the bath, and have a very large glass of wine.

“Kate? You okay?” Daisy asked, her voice soft.

I nodded, knowing it was true. “I’m fine. Really.”

“All of you are required to talk with our team leader before you come back to work though. You know that right?”

I nodded, relieved. “You guys always take care of everyone’s health. Mental and physical.”

“Damn straight. Do you want a ride home?”

“I got her.”

I looked up sharply at the sound of Sawyer’s voice, and everybody stopped talking, staring at the two of us.

“If that’s okay with her,” Sawyer said as his jaw tensed.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Gus asked.

And I knew at that moment, if I didn’t get him out of there, everybody was going to have an opinion about this. And I barely had one of my own. I didn’t know why Sawyer was there, and I didn’t even know if I wanted him to be. However, I needed to get us both out of there.

“It’s fine. Thank you.” I grabbed my bag and headed out of the room before anybody could stop me. This was probably the worst decision I could make. However, I just needed to get out of there.

I pushed past Sawyer on my way to the parking lot, stopping at the small bridge that connected the parking lot to the main buildings. Then Sawyer had his arms around me and crushed me to his chest.

“I got here as soon as I heard. Are you okay?” He pulled me away for a moment, cupping my face as he studied me. “Are you hurt anywhere? Do you need to go to the hospital?”

I swallowed hard, shaking my head. “I’m fine. Ford pushed me out of the way.” I cursed with how that sounded. “It was nowhere near me. But everybody had a reflex, and they got me out of the way. I’m fine.”

“I didn’t even realize you went out in the field like that. What the hell?”

“It wasn’t supposed to be like that. And I’m not usually out there. You know that. We talked about that. Why are you here, Sawyer?”

“I should have been here before. But I can’t make up for that other than to say I’m sorry. So damn sorry. You could have been killed. It scared the fuck out of me.”

“I thought I didn’t matter to you like that. You walked away, Sawyer.”

“Because I’m an idiot. Because I wasn’t allowing myself to feel. I thought that if I pushed you away, if you were safe in another direction, nothing could happen to you. And then look what happened. You were shot at today. My brother was shot at today too.”

The pain in his voice nearly broke me. “We are both fine, Sawyer.”

“You keep saying fine , but I don’t believe it. You could have gotten hurt today.”

“You’re the one who hurt me.” I hadn’t meant to scream the words, but here we were, once again on a different bridge, with everything that I’d tried to bury deep spilling out of me. “You pushed me away. I said I love you and you said I wasn’t good enough.”

“No, I said I wasn’t good enough,” Sawyer snapped.

“And I’m not. How could I be when I don’t tell you that I fucking love you.

Because I do. It scared me so much. Do you know that every time I close my eyes and try to go to sleep, I see you in the car next to me?

I see that drunk driver hitting your side as you scream my name, and I can’t help you.

I see you die in my sleep and I can’t help you. I can’t do anything to save you.”

Blood drained from my face as I stared at him, trying to comprehend his words. I felt like I was two paces back, only trying to catch up. “No. I didn’t know any of this. Because you don’t tell me anything. I’m not Laura. And it’s not your fault what happened. You know this.”

“It doesn’t help the nightmares.”

“Then talk to me. Talk to someone. You can’t control fate. You can do everything in your capacity to keep us safe, but sometimes the worst happens. And that’s terrible. You can’t live your life expecting the worst.”

“I nearly lost you today.”

“You already did though.”

“Give me another chance. I love you, Kate. I knew the moment I watched you lift your face up to the sky and try to catch snow. In that moment I knew that you could be mine forever if I let it happen. But I wasn’t going to let it happen.

Because I was so damn afraid. Then you were almost hurt anyway.

Please, take me back. Let me figure out exactly how to do this boyfriend thing.

I’m not good at it, but I want to try. Please.

I’m so sorry. I can’t promise I will never hurt you again, because casual hurt still counts.

Even when we don’t try. But I’m never going to be that stupid again.

I was coming back. I was going to come to your house tonight and grovel.

And I will crawl right now on this bridge.

Please take a chance on me. Again. Please be kind to the asshole that I am. And love me.”

Tears were freely flowing down my cheeks as I gripped his shirt. “I already love you. You jerk. But every time you get scared you can’t hurt me and push me away. You have to trust me. And yourself.”

“And I’m trying with every ounce that I am. Every single day. I’m trying to earn you.”

“You already earned me. You just need to find a way to believe that.”

“I love you, Kate.”

And for a moment, it truly felt as if I were watching this take place from far away. He had said the words multiple times on this bridge, and yet in that moment, it felt as if I had been waiting all my life. And here it was. It wasn’t perfect, but it was ours.

I reached out to cup his face. “I love you, Sawyer. Let’s not mess this up.”

“Damn straight.” He cleared his throat. “And I am ready to kneel down on this bridge and grovel.”

“You can grovel later.” I paused. “Bridge people?” I asked, and Sawyer threw his head back and laughed. It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen.

“Apparently. I guess this means every time I see a bridge I have to tell you I love you. I don’t like that.”

When he crushed his mouth to mine, I was lost.

I knew this was only our beginning. But it wasn’t an ending.

The world was unfair, it wasn’t easy, but it was ours.

And I loved the man who held me with such care it was as if he knew either one of us could break. However, we would be there to catch the other. Something we hadn’t allowed ourselves to think about before.

And so I kissed the man I loved on our bridge.

And later when he knelt down on one knee to propose on another bridge, I said yes.

And on yet another bridge I vowed to love him until the end of our days.

In years later when we watched our children ride their bikes over the bridge near our house, I held on to Sawyer, knowing that we were indeed connected by bridges.

And I would go over them every day just to see him smile and mean it, until the end of our lives.